I am Jim Beck, the owner of The Stove Doctor. I want to tell you about something that has been a very large part of my life from an early age.
When I was 11 years old, I was visiting my grand parents in Fruita, Colorado, and was blessed by going to a small Baptist church with them. The Pastor there gave a sermon concerning the book of Revelation. This is the last book of the bible that explains the end of times, or Armageddon. As I listened to the message that morning, I became aware that I was beginning to feel terrified. I believed the bible, and I knew I didn’t want to experience what was coming. At the end of the message, the Pastor gave an invitation for Salvation. I wasn’t sure what that was, so I sat there and prayed that God would help me to understand what I was feeling and tell me what to do about it. That day, I talked with my parents, my aunt, and my grand parents trying to understand what salvation was and how to get saved. I continued to pray that the Lord would help me. That night at the evening service, the sermon was a continuation of the morning sermon. This time, at the end of the service, when the Pastor gave that invitation for salvation, I all but ran to the front of the church and told him I wanted to be saved. The Pastor and my family helped me to understand what salvation was and how to ask the Lord for it, and that night, I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and became a saved soul. It has been the cornerstone of my life ever since. I have since learned that salvation is a lot more than a way out of the end of times. I have been through many dark times in my life, but ever since I accepted Christ as my personal savior, I have never felt alone.
A short story called “Footprints in the Sand” kind of explains what it means to accept Christ into your heart.
“One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with Jesus Christ. Scenes from his life flashed across the sky and he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to him and the other to Christ. When the last scene of his life had flashed before him, he saw that at the worst times of his life, there was only one set of footprints. Confused and dismayed, he asked Jesus, I don’t understand, you said that once I accepted you as my savior, you would walk with me my whole life, and yet, as I look back over my life, at the times when I needed you most, you left me. Jesus smiled and took him by the hand and said, “ My child, I love you so much and would never leave you. At the times of your life when you had trials, temptations and suffering, those were the times I carried you.”
I want to help you find that feeling of peace, hope, love and support I have found in Him.
Please keep in mind, there are a lot of people out there that know the bible a lot better than I do, but I will try to explain as best I can. Also, if you read along, remember that the Lord opens your heart when you read from the bible. Some verses I put down may not seem to mean anything to you at this time, others may strike real close to home, so PLEASE stay with me and read through to the end. I may not include the entire verse; so follow along with me in your Bible. The verses here are not complete by any stretch. As I began to compile this, I found verse after verse that applied, but I want you to find things by study as well as what you learn here. I want to give thanks first to my Lord Jesus Christ for helping me do this, to my wife Chrissy for all her support and help and to the Pastor of my church Pastor Mike Bell for his assistance.
OK: step one: Got your Bible? I need to say something here. I am of the firm belief that the 1611 King James Version Bible is the ONLY bible that is the true word of God. Wikipedia.com has a good history of the KJV. In short, KJV was the 3rd English translation (but the first complete) of the Greek, Latin and Hebrew scrolls, and was painstakingly done by 47 scholars under the commission of King James. They worked for 7 years on the project and I believe the Lord had his hands on each of them to make sure that they translated correctly and completely. All other newer bibles remove words, entire verses, and change meanings. They are in direct contradiction to:
Revelation 22: 18-19
"...If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life…"
Hard to read? Can be at first, but pray that the Lord give you ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to understand his teachings. He will.
OK: Why Christ at all? What do we need saving from? In a nutshell, man blew it. The 3rd chapter of Genesis tells the story. Adam and Eve committed the first breaking of God’s law (that’s called a sin). Read the story. At that time, God knew what would have to be done.
Genesis 3:15; 49:10
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
This was the first telling of Christ and what he would do, in the end; he is going to crush Satan under his foot with such force that it will bruise his heel. Satan is doomed, and the only pleasure he gets is trying to haul you under that same foot. Salvation saves you from sharing Satan’s doom.
Do you need to be saved? Only if you’ve ever committed 1 sin in your entire life. If you NEVER sin, you don’t need to be saved. Thus far, Christ is the only one to have accomplished that, so if you can pull it off, you’re in perfect company. Otherwise, yes, you need to accept the gift of salvation. You’re gambling with more than your life here, you’re gambling with all eternity, and where you’re going to spend it. As my Pastor says “Less than 3 seconds after you’re dead, you’ll know whether or not you made the right choice, and the thing is, no one can make the choice for you, it’s all up to you.
OK. You’ve decided that salvation is what you need, but there are lots of people from history that religions say to follow. One of my first questions was “Is Christ really the son of God?” If we believe the Bible, then yes he was.
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, 19
“The LORD the God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”
Many times in the Old Testament, the coming Messiah, or the Christ was called the Word, and there were lots of prophecies about how his life would go, and what would happen to him.
John 1: 1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
The Word was Jesus Christ.
Mathew 3: 16-17
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
John the Baptist knew him on sight, and bore witness to him saying:
John 1: 29-34
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and it abode upon him. And I knew him not but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God”
Christ himself, who never lied (lying is a sin) said who he was:
John 9: 35-37
”…Dost thou believe in the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.”
John 10: 30
“I and my Father are one.”
If we see this from the enemy’s eyes, see what the demon Legion said:
Luke 8:28
“When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.”
From all points of view, Jesus Christ was the Savior, the Son of God and God. There are 3, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. That sounds confusing. It’s called the mystery of the Trinity. My Pastor says: “ The three are one and the one is three and the one in the middle is the one who saved me!” I don’t completely understand it, but I firmly believe it.
For more helpful readings see:
Psalm 22:6-8, 12-18 John 19: 24 Zechariah 12: 10 John 19: 31-37 Psalm 110: 1 Proverbs 30: 4 Isaiah 42: 1-4 Isaiah 53: 1-12 Micah 5: 2 Isaiah 61: 1-3 Luke 4: 16-21 Daniel 9: 24-26 Zechariah 9: 9 and Mathew 21: 5
So now you might ask yourself, can I be saved? I’m Asian, or American or African. I’m an Eskimo or Mexican. I’m a Catholic, a Hindu, or a Muslim. The Bible tells us that Christ died and rose again to save all humanity. But you must ask for it to get it.
John 10: 16
“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: Them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one Shepard."
Romans 10: 12
“For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”
OK: You believe the Bible; you believe that you need to be saved, and that you can be saved. You believe that Christ is the savior, now what? What do you do to get saved? This term is interchangeable with being “Born Again”.
Christ told us. Consider:
John 3: 5-8, 16-18
“…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 14: 6
“…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
Acts 16: 31
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…..”
Romans 10: 9
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10: 13
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
It is very important that you understand that salvation is a gift given by the Lord. You cannot earn it, You can not pay for it and without it all the good deeds done will gain you nothing.
Consider what Jesus Christ said.
Mathew 7: 22-23
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them I never know you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Ephesians 2: 8-9
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
OK: You’ve decided that you want to become part of the body of Jesus Christ. You want to accept the gift of salvation. What do you say? How do you do it? What should you pray? There is no exact wording for asking for the Lord’s awesome gift. There are a few things that you need to include.
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Confess that you are a sinner.
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Tell the Lord that you want to turn away from sin
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Tell the Lord that you believe He died for your sins and rose again.
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Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your heart and save you.
Remember this: Unless you BELIEVE what you are saying, you might as well be saying anything. The Lord hears the words, yes, but sees the heart. You can’t fool him.
You can word your prayer in lots of ways, but here is an example:
Dear Lord in Heaven
I pray to you to confess that I am a sinner.
I believe that you died on the cross to save me from the wages of my sins, and rose from the dead so that I could live forever with you.
I want to turn away from my old life of sin and follow you.
I ask you to come into my heart and save me.
I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
Amen
If you have prayed this, and believed in what you were praying, let me be the first to welcome you into my family in Jesus Christ! Now what. What changed? Go back to the footprints in the sand story at the beginning of this. Before you prayed, you walked alone, now? I think you’ll get the picture. I suggest you first take a minute and give another prayer, thanking your new Savior Jesus Christ for guiding you to him. Your journey to salvation is complete. If you truly believed what you just prayed, you can never loose this, and it can’t be taken away from you. Now you start a new journey. Growing as a part of the body of Christ. Study your Bible. If you can, find a church that you feel the Lord leads you to. Seek the fellowship of other saved Christians, but don’t ever forget: This is between you and Christ, don’t let anyone or anything get between the two of you. My Pastor likes to say, “Jesus Christ and I make a majority.” The Lord Jesus gave a great parable explaining where you are right now.
Luke 8: 5-8
“A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among the thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred-fold.
You are the freshly sown seed. Pray that you are of the seed that fell on good ground and sprang up to bear fruit. Take your Bible and read Luke 8: 11-18 and it will explain the parable.
Now, remember to pray. The Lord loves to hear from you. He wants to hear from you about every need in your life, just remember to end prayers with “ in the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen”. Remember what you said in your prayer for salvation. Turn away from the old you and become the new you. The Lord will give you the strength to do this, but remember to ask for it. Keep reading your Bible, and pray for the Lord to lead you to a family of Christians that will give you fellowship and support.
I am so happy for you! Please e-mail me (thestovedr@gmail.com) so that I can pray for you.
May all the praise and glory be to our Lord Jesus Christ!